Chicago high-rises are typically built on tight sites that impose stringent demands on construction staging. Just-in-time delivery of materials is the norm, and construction buffs get few opportunities to see the complex process that results in a sleek, simple-appearing finished building.
When it’s complete the building that’s underway at 435 N Park Dr in Streeterville will rise more than 600 feet and include 398 apartments and about 400 hotel rooms on the south half (approximately) of the construction site you see in the video. In the interim, the scale of the site and the open vistas from the west afford a rare opportunity to see the “nuts and bolts” of a high-rise in progress, and watch some of the trades in action. Architecture critic Lynn Becker calls it the “coolest construction site in the city.”
It’s not often that you get this clear a view of high-rise construction, so stop by for the show when you’re in the neighborhood. While you’re there you can speculate on the state of the rental market as you contemplate the three new apartment towers underway and nearing completion within a block or two of each other.